The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) is a premium laptop best suited for professional tasks such as video editing, with a high-quality display, strong performance, and long battery life, but with a higher price and less appeal for gaming. In contrast, the Lenovo Legion Slim 5 offers solid performance for engineering and gaming at a more affordable price, with a dedicated graphics card for demanding tasks but a shorter battery life and a lower quality display. The MacBook Pro's MacOS and the Legion's Windows 11 may also be deciding factors based on your software needs and personal preference. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023)
Very good for general use
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
Excellent overall display quality
Best in class overall build quality
Good portability
Best in class battery life
Best in class speakers
Best in class keyboard
Advantages of the Lenovo Legion Slim 5
The Lenovo Legion Slim 5 has no clear advantages over the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023).
Key differences
General Use
8.8/10
7.6/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
487.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
300.0 nits
17.5 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
7.0 Hours
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
7.6/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.7/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) is very good for general use, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 5 is good.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) excels in general use with top-notch screen quality, excellent keyboard, outstanding speakers, and strong battery life, making it highly portable despite its premium build; its performance is aided by a powerful CPU and ample RAM. The Lenovo Legion Slim 5, while offering a good general-use experience with a very good keyboard and speakers, has a shorter battery life and its screen doesn't match the MacBook Pro's, but it remains a viable, more gaming-oriented option with its dedicated GPU and efficient heat management.
Engineering and Design
8.9/10
8.0/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.3/10
6.2/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.4/10
18.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) and Lenovo Legion Slim 5 are both very good for engineering and design, though the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) is somewhat better.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16, with its powerful M3 Pro processor and Mini LED display, excels in display quality and processing power, making it ideal for tasks in engineering and design that require a high-resolution, color-accurate screen and substantial computing performance.
Content Creation
8.9/10
7.5/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.3/10
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
18.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) is very good for content creation, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 5 is good.
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Software Development
8.9/10
7.4/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.3/10
18.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) is very good for software development, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 5 is good.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
Screen Quality
9.3/10
7.2/10
16.2in
SIZE
16.0in
3456 x 2234
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1200
Mini LED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
487.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
300.0 nits
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has a better screen than the Lenovo Legion Slim 5 for general use, AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16's display boasts high resolution and exceptional brightness, providing crisp and vivid visuals for general use, and it covers a wide color spectrum, making it ideal for engineering and design tasks that require accurate color representation. However, its lower refresh rate compared to gaming-oriented laptops makes it less optimal for 3D applications where smoother motion is crucial. In contrast, the Lenovo Legion Slim 5, while offering decent resolution and brightness for everyday tasks and design work, falls short for gaming and 3D use due to its inferior refresh rate, which is pivotal for those looking for a seamless visual experience in fast-paced scenarios.
Battery
17.5 Hours
7.0 Hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 has 17.5 hours of battery life. The Lenovo Legion Slim 5 has 7 hours of battery life.
Battery life estimate is based on a mix of common use patterns. More portable and higher performing laptops tend to have less battery life.
Portability
Good
Fair
16.2in
SIZE
16.0in
4.7 lbs
WEIGHT
5.2 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
0.9in
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) has good portability, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 5 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
7.4/10
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) has best in class build quality, while the Lenovo Legion Slim 5 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$2,499
$1,000
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
$3,500
$4,000
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) has a price of $2,499 and the Lenovo Legion Slim 5 costs $1,000.
The Lenovo Legion Slim 5 and Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) are both good for gaming and AI.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16, with its Apple M3 Pro graphics, is optimized for 3D tasks on MacOS but fewer games are available, whereas the Lenovo Legion Slim 5, with its Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU and higher screen refresh rate, is better suited for gaming and can handle most popular games that may not run on Macs.
Give feedback
We’re constantly working to improve.
How the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) and the Lenovo Legion Slim 5 compare to other laptops
"The Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023: M2 Max challenges GeForce RTX 3080 Ti. The new MacBook Pro 16 2023 with the M2 Max SoC is the most powerful laptop Apple has on sale right now. While we do not get the expected performance and efficiency improvements from completely new 3 nm chips, which we expected ahead of the launch, the 2023 model is still a solid update. The CPU of the M2 Max can be up to 20 % faster than the old model and we also see an advantage of 25-30 % for the GPU with 38 cores. However, both components also consume more power, so the efficiency did not change that much under maximum load."
"The Lenovo Legion Slim 5 Gen 8 acknowledges that a gaming laptop doesn’t have to be as thick as possible and can still ensure adequate cooling when the muscles need flexing. To this end, in the Slim 5 Gen 8, it finds a neat balance of refined, trimmed-down design that still lets its internals cruise (even above their max power ratings). Lenovo then added in some high-end build quality with an altogether excellent keyboard that’s useful for both work and play."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (Late 2023) or the Lenovo Legion Slim 5
About Apple
Apple, an American technology company, is one of the world’s largest company in terms of market capitalization. Their MacBook laptops feature a slim, minimalistic design, class-leading battery life, and premium display and speaker quality. In 2020 Apple switched from using Intel processors to their own silicon chips which have excellent performance and efficiency. The macOS operating system is the second most widely used OS, after Windows.
About Lenovo
Lenovo is a Chinese technology company, and one of the largest personal computer vendor. They are well known for a variety of technology products, including laptops. Their consumer series include their entry level IdeaPad and LOQ series and mid-to-high-end Yoga and Legion series. On the business-oriented side, their series include their entry-level ThinkBook series and mid-to-high-end ThinkPad series. Lenovo laptops offer strong performance for reasonable prices, and are often on sale.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
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About the laptop team
Joe Golden, Ph.D
CEO and Laptops Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
Jason Lew
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Jason is a staff expert and software engineer that has been making laptop recommendations for 7 years and moderates one of the largest laptop subreddits.
Chandradeep Chowdhury
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.
Craig Russell
Laptops Expert
Craig is a UK-based laptops expert. Craig works in IT, where he recommends and supports laptops and PCs for clients and has been recommending laptops on Reddit for five years.